He said this at the cabinet meeting in Pietermaritzburg after a presentation by First Rand Banking (FRB) group CEO Sizwe Nxasana.
“All four major banks in this country have the same attitude. They are very anti-KZN. … One must change one’s address to somewhere in Gauteng in order to have a positive hearing … we are going to demand answers as to what our people are getting from them for us to bank with them. It has got to be quid pro quo,” Ndebele said.
He made reference to a prominent KwaZulu-Natalian whom he said had made it in business after moving to Johannesburg.
Nxasana agreed with the premier but said his bank whose subsidiary is First National Bank, was trying hard to change the attitude. Nxasana also outlined FRB’s corporate social investment programme that was increasing in the province.
The cabinet also received a report on the KZN government’s transformation profile that indicated an improvement as compared to the pre-2005 period. The report says the target of transforming to 75% senior management in government was exceeded. With regard to gender, there was under-performance as only 31,8% transformation was achieved against a target of 50%. On disability only 0,14% was achieved against a target of two percent. An investment map for KZN was also presented to cabinet. Cabinet supported Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu’s intervention in Uthukela Water by taking over its executive functions.